Keyboard cleaning video

[Jokrik]

Came across Paul's video for cleaning mechanical keyboard

Dont get me wrong, I like the guy and his video (not as much as Linus)
but this is the first time I see a keyboard cleaning method where he uses the straws and cotton bud to individually clean the switch by letting the water run down into the switch
see it around 7:30 in the video

is this a safe way to do ?
from my knowledge , the water would run down into the springs and water+metal = rust

[Photekq]

I wouldn't recommend it

[SpAmRaY]

I suppose if your keyboard was trashed anyway you could try some of this but I'd never put water in switches like that.

[BlueBär]

Alcohol should be a safer option. You shouldn't need to clean your switches often if at all, except if you spilled something on your keyboard. The dirtiest switches I had were some old vintage blacks that just had a clump of dust under the slider, however the key stull functioned fine and didn't feel different, so I doubt that cleaning it that thoroughly is necessary.

[niubio]

Yep, I second everything BlueBär just said. Well, some vintage blacks in my NCR were so clogged with dust that I had to manualy open them and clean with alcohol + "contact" (a little can of special-purpose electronic contacts cleaner). I can also add that air compressor does wonders - if you want to clean ANY sort of equipment. Good as new!

I've read an article somewhere once (in polish paper press), where a total MORON said sth. like this: "if your keyboard accumulated a lot of dust, you can submerge it in hot water, than dry it on the sun or radiator". Like the dust from inside of a CLOSED BOARD would magically teleport somwhere outside... I would never recommend using water on electronics. Plastic is a different story, but only after taking everything apart

[phoenix1234]

Been there and done that sometimes.
In my experience, actually Cherry MX switch is very sensitive to H20.
This is what I got after soaking the switch into water and left them in wet condition for a few days 

[niubio]

I feel sorry for your Cherries phoenix :/ May it be a warning for the others!

[berserkfan]

Came across Paul's video for cleaning mechanical keyboard

Dont get me wrong, I like the guy and his video (not as much as Linus)
but this is the first time I see a keyboard cleaning method where he uses the straws and cotton bud to individually clean the switch by letting the water run down into the switch
see it around 7:30 in the video

is this a safe way to do ?
from my knowledge , the water would run down into the springs and water+metal = rust

Aren't you located in Indonesia?

Don't even think of it!

tropical humid climate is no good for almost anything inorganic. That includes rubberized coatings and nonslip pads

[eddie]

Been there and done that sometimes.
In my experience, actually Cherry MX switch is very sensitive to H20.
This is what I got after soaking the switch into water and left them in wet condition for a few days 

(Attachment Link)

Do you know how this would effect the switch if it is even usable?

[note]

I also think that alcohol is a really good option.

Been there and done that sometimes.
In my experience, actually Cherry MX switch is very sensitive to H20.
This is what I got after soaking the switch into water and left them in wet condition for a few days 

(Attachment Link)

Wow that's so cool.

[BlueBär]

Do you know how this would effect the switch if it is even usable?

If it even is usable (which depends on how bad the leaf spring on the part where it connects is oxidized), then it would probably feel gritty and like sandpaper.

[Jokrik]

Came across Paul's video for cleaning mechanical keyboard

Dont get me wrong, I like the guy and his video (not as much as Linus)
but this is the first time I see a keyboard cleaning method where he uses the straws and cotton bud to individually clean the switch by letting the water run down into the switch
see it around 7:30 in the video

is this a safe way to do ?
from my knowledge , the water would run down into the springs and water+metal = rust

Aren't you located in Indonesia?

Don't even think of it!

tropical humid climate is no good for almost anything inorganic. That includes rubberized coatings and nonslip pads

Dont think I'm gonna try that

but firstly it always come back to the usage method, myself who has the rule of "No food around the keyboard" would never have problem with anything stuck under the keycaps let alone under the switch

The last thing I'll do if a switch got stuck with something in it, i'm just gonna desolder it, open it up and clean it with dry cloth
or just replace the switch

but man my heart stops when I saw that dampen cotton bud make it way through the switch and the water slips into the switch

[berserkfan]

I wonder if it is posisble to make aluminium springs. In that case, problems solved!

No rust.

Lightweight.

Good for everyone!

[SpAmRaY]

I wonder if it is posisble to make aluminium springs. In that case, problems solved!

No rust.

Lightweight.

Good for everyone!

It's not necessarily the switch spring as much as the contact leaf.

[phoenix1234]

I feel sorry for your Cherries phoenix :/ May it be a warning for the others!

Speaking of warning, I think the worst parts are the legs of the switch.
The corrosion totally destroyed them. As you may know, corrosion is the enemy of solder.
We cannot have the right and solid soldering joints if the corrosion built upon the legs unless we remove the corrosion.
This is a test that I made on a my switch tester.
Even I used high quality solder (the left is Multicore, the right is Kester) plus I need to fill a bigger amount of solder, the formed joints are very weak and ugly.
In short, we should keep Cherry MX switch away from H2O as much as possible.